Social Media Users Give Snapchat Stories the Nod Over Instagram Stories

September 15, 2016

This article is included in these additional categories:

African-American | Boomers & Older | Digital | Hispanic | Social Media | Youth & Gen X

yougov-instagram-stories-v-snapchat-stories-sept2016Snapchat users are more engaged with Snapchat Stories than Instagram users are with recently-launched Instagram Stories, and US adults who have used either would rather use Snapchat stories, according to a YouGov survey of more than 2,000 US adult social media users.

There’s plenty of room for growth in awareness of Instagram Stories, which allow users to upload photos and videos that then disappear 24 hours later. Prior to taking the survey, just one-quarter of respondents reported being even somewhat aware that Instagram had rolled out Instagram Stories. Predictably, that figure was much higher among 18-34-year-olds, who make up the largest chunk of Instagram’s US audience. Almost half (48%) of this group reported having been at least somewhat aware of Instagram Stories, compared to just 21% of social media users aged 35-54 and 9% of those aged 55 and older.

When limiting the analysis to Instagram users, fewer than half (46%) reported looking at Instagram Stories on at least a weekly basis. That’s a rather sizable proportion in its own right, though it has some catching up to do: almost two-thirds (64%) of Snapchat users who said they look at Snapchat Stories with that frequency.

Similarly, 45% of Snapchat users claimed to post Snapchat Stories at least once a week, more than double the proportion (21%) of Instagram users who said they post Instagram Stories that frequently.

[SPONSORED Free Ebook: The Content Marketing Survival Guide: How to Navigate the Wilds of Social Media]

Overall, among US adults who had ever used Instagram Stories or Snapchat Stories, 35% said that given the choice they would rather use Snapchat Stories, compared to 25% who would rather use Instagram Stories. That advantage was especially pronounced among the 18-34 demographic, who were twice as likely to favor Snapchat Stories (45%) over Instagram stories (21%). Notably, though, this skew seemed to have been driven by White Americans, who would rather use Snapchat than Instagram Stories by a 2:1 margin; Black Americans, by contrast, would heavily favor Instagram Stories (36%) over Snapchat Stories (21%) if given the choice, with Hispanics more evenly split.

Instagram can also hang its hat on greater popularity among that young demographic: 73% of 18-34-year-olds said that the platform is popular among their friends, compared to 63% saying the same about Snapchat.

About the Data: The results are based on a YouGov Omnibus survey of 2,218 US adults (18+), including 2,013 adults who use social media.

Chart-Library-Ad-1

Explore More Articles.

Which Skills Are Important in RevOps?

Which Skills Are Important in RevOps?

9 in 10 RevOps professionals view data analysis skills as being important, a high percentage also don’t believe they need this skill for their job.

Marketing Charts Logo

Stay on the cutting edge of marketing.

Sign up for our free newsletter.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This